by LUCY ASHTON
A Scottish football stalwart soldiered on through horrible weather as he concluded a gruelling challenge on Ben Nevis.
Former Rangers and Liverpool midfielder Graeme Souness was accompanied by former Celtic captain Scott Brown in the last leg of the Three Peaks Challenge.
This September, Souness has climbed the UK’s three tallest mountains and swam in the highest lakes in its fundraising bid for Debra, a charity supporting people living with the skin condition epidermolysis bullosa (EB), also known as butterfly skin.
The Ben Nevis climb earlier this week was the final part of this effort, however, weather and physical conditions were not on his side.
“Scotland was tough – the weather was brutal,” he said.
“I picked up a little injury, a twinge in my hip pretty far into the Nevis climb, which was a concern.”
He said that although it was painful and uncomfortable, this is only a fraction of what anyone living with EB copes with “every second of every day”.
Debra ambassador and campaigner Isla Grist, from Inverness, suffers from the condition and was there to cheer on the climbers at the start.
Souness added: “Knowing why we were there, why we were doing this, and that Isla was at the bottom of Nevis waiting for us, how could I not plough on?”
The blizzard conditions made it a tough walk for the climbers.
“I was pretty laid back about the physical challenge we were taking on but it was hard. That doesn’t matter though,” Brown said.
He also said that with Souness’ own injury and the conditions around them, he probably should have stopped.
“That wasn’t happening, no matter what – it wasn’t even up for discussion,” he said.
“It was pretty slippery, and there were a few dodgy moments, but we helped each other through the rough bits.
“I never thought we’d be on the same team for anything, but that’s how desperate the need is for people living with EB.”
During his challenge, he was joined not only by Brown and Isla but also by other members of the EB community, including Kevin Kealy, who has EB simplex and completed every leg, and Calum Blackman, dad to three-year-old Albi, who has recessive dystrophic EB.
The challenge follows Graeme’s previous fundraising efforts for Debra UK, including a 30-mile English Channel swim in 2023, which raised more than £1.2 million and helped boost the charity’s ‘A Life Free of Pain’ appeal.
People can support Graeme’s effort by donating to Debra UK.